Diabetes mellitus is a chronic heredity disease which is characterized by an abnormally high level of glucose in the blood and in the urine. It is a disorder of carbohydrate metabolism.
Diabetes occurs at every age and in every race and is never cured though it may be controlled. It is a disease found throughout the world and may be related to certain geographic, environmental and socio-economic factors. There are variations in the pattern of the disease in different parts of the world.
Symptoms of diabetes fall into two main categories. Rapid epinephrine release causes sweating, tremors, tachycardia, anxiety and hunger. Central nervous system symptoms include dizziness, headaches, clouding of vision, blunted mental acuity, confusion, abnormal behavior, convulsions and loss of convulsions and loss of consciousness. When hypoglycemia is recurrent or severe, nervous system symptoms predominate, and the epinephrine phase may not be recognizable. With more rapid drops or wide swings in plasma glucose, adrenergic symptoms are predominant (Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 11th Ed., McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1987, p 1800).
Numerous strategies have been developed to achieve the goal of controlling diabetes like the use of open looped continuous subcutaneous pumps and multiple daily injections of insulin. With this continuous treatment the patients have to measure their blood sugar level to assure that close to normal blood sugar levels are maintained.
The treatment of diabetes was revolutionized with the discovery of insulin in 1921 and treatment was further modified after the introduction of oral drugs. However it has been found that intensive insulin treatment while it markedly delays and lessens long term retinal, nephrologic and neuropathic disease, leads to a three to nine-fold increase in hypoglycemic events, most of which occur at night (L. Y. Dawson, Clinical Diabetes, 11:88-96,1993) and sometimes can lead to loss of consciousness and convulsions. It has been found that severe hypoglycemic events seem to occur more often at night while the patient is asleep rather than during the day. When awake, diabetic patients can feel hypoglycemic reactions beginning, and can treat themselves with sugar in order bring their blood sugar levels back into the normal range. When asleep, patients do not have the awareness, therefore the risk of hypoglycemia is much higher during this time.
The use of cornstarch to combat hypoglycemia has also been tried. It has been found that protection against low blood sugar was provided for up to 6 to 8 hours after ingestion of uncooked starch (J. I. Woltsdorf, et al. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. , 51:1051-7, 1990). However, the dosage of cornstarch used for this treatment was 1.75 grams per kilogram of body weight. This dosage is much higher than can be tolerated by a patient with diabetes mellitus. It has been found that the cornstarch did little to prevent hypoglycemia (M. T. Ververs, et al., Eur. J. Clin Nutr., 47:268-73,1983).
Diet has always been considered the most important factor in the management of diabetes even though insulin may be life saving for some.
Except for some restrictions and modifications the diabetes diet is not different from the diet of someone who does not have diabetes. The major principle is to modify the caloric intake keeping in view the height, weight and sex of the individual.
The dietary advice with regard to carbohydrate intake was concerned only with the amount or proportion of simple and complex carbohydrates. In fact both the type and form of carbohydrates have varying effects on blood sugar response.
It has been found that complex carbohydrates or starches such as rice or potato were believed to be slowly digested and absorbed causing only a small rise in blood glucose level. On the other hand, simple carbohydrates such as glucose, lactose and the like, were assumed to be readily digested, absorbed and producing large and rapid increases in blood glucose levels. Hence diabetics were advised to avoid taking simple sugars.
Diabetes is primarily a disorder of carbohydrate metabolism as stated earlier. However, the real danger of diabetes does not result in impaired carbohydrate metabolism but from impaired fat metabolism which follows disturbances of the carbohydrate metabolism.
The source of carbohydrates in the diet has a significant influence on lipid(fat) metabolism in a human being. The amount of sucrose is increased and the quantity of complex carbohydrates is decreased, the concentration of cholesterol and more particularly of Triglycerides increases which has a correlation between blood lipid concentration and impaired glucose tolerance.
Thus the need exists for a better method for treating hypoglycemia including a product to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks.
According to one aspect of this invention, blood sugar levels in patients with diabetes mellitus are regulated and controlled by ingesting a therapeutic herbal composition.
Plants are part and parcel of human society from the dawn of civilization and extensive use of Dolichos biflorus as a food for both animals and human beings is known. It is used as a feed for cattle and horses. Stems, leaves and split husks are also used as cattle feed. The seeds are cooked before being used as a feed.
The seeds are consumed by humans after cooking or frying. They are eaten whole or after grinding into a meal, unlike other seeds which are consumed after splitting.